IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

67 sheet-pan recipes for easy weeknight cooking

The humble sheet-pan is the hero of weeknight cooking.
/ Source: TODAY

Anything you can do, a sheet-pan can do better. On busy nights, sheet-pan recipes are one of the quickest and easiest ways to get a meal on the table, whether it’s pancakes for breakfast or a hearty meat and vegetable combo for dinner. It’s always a good idea to have a few go-to sheet-pan meals that you feel confident cooking. This way, you have a handful of guaranteed hits that will easily bulk up your weekly menu rotation.

There are a few benefits to using a sheet-pan when you’re cooking a recipe. For starters, you have a large surface area to work with. Think about searing chicken in a skillet — you have to be careful not to overcrowd the pan so that everything develops a nice color and cooks evenly. With a sheet-pan, you simply have more room to work with.

Secondly, cleanup is a cinch. Instead of dirtying multiple bowls and pans, most sheet-pan recipes call for tossing everything together on the tray and popping it into the oven. Of course, there are some exceptions — prepping a meatloaf of meatball mixture in a separate bowl for instance — but on the whole, cleanup is quick and easy. Oftentimes, you can even line the sheet-pan with parchment or aluminum foil so that you’re left with a relatively clean sheet-pan.

Lastly, sheet-pan meals can serve as many people as you need. You can make a simple dinner for four or enough breakfast or dessert to serve a crowd. We can guarantee you’ll find a handful of recipes in this collection that you and your family will love. Grab your sheet-pans and get to work.

The surface area of a sheet-pan is perfect for developing a golden brown color on sausage links and potatoes. Much of the flavor comes from the fragrant spice blend, which is made with ground fennel seeds, oregano and pepper flakes. What takes it over the top is a bright and zippy herb sauce flavored with briny anchovies, lemon and Calabrian chiles.

No need to waste your time flipping individual meatballs over the stove with this recipe. Since chicken meatballs can easily turn dry, we stir some creamy ricotta cheese into the meatball mixture. The meatballs cook through just in time for the broccolini to become tender.

Sheet-Pan Korean Barbecue Cauliflower

This hearty vegetarian meal comes together in under an hour and packs in a ton of flavor. You can prep the rest of the ingredients while the heavy hitters (cauliflower and mushrooms) roast in the oven. The real kick comes from Korean barbecue sauce, which has some spice and umami flavor from the addition of soy sauce and chiles.

Here, meaty salmon filets stay moist as they roast on a bed of baby carrots and cauliflower florets. While the vegetables roast, marinate the salmon in a smoky and spicy mixture of harissa paste, orange juice and fresh ginger. This glaze will become a little sticky in the oven, and it pairs perfectly with the sweet vegetables.

This sheet-pan dinner is so hearty, you’ll need two pans to get the job done. The zucchini and bell peppers roast on one pan with some chili powder, which adds a smoky flavor and mild amount of heat. Portions of sweet corn on the cob roast on another pan alongside chicken breasts that are rubbed in spiced honey oil. Giving all of the ingredients enough room ensures that the vegetables will become golden and soft and the chicken will cook through perfectly.

Sheet-Pan Pesto Chicken with Broccoli Rabe and Potatoes

This colorful sheet-pan dinner is bursting with flavor. Both the baby potatoes and the chicken breasts are coated with a good amount of basil pesto, which adds a vibrant, yet earthy flavor to the dish. As the broccoli rabe roasts, its bitter flavor mellows out, but you could use other vegetables like tender-stemmed broccoli or halved Brussels sprouts. Finish the dish with some mozzarella balls, which complement the pesto perfectly.

Sheet-Pan Salmon Niçoise Salad

Nicoise salads are usually made using tinned tuna, but who says salmon can’t join in on the fun? Potatoes, green beans and plump cherry tomatoes are cooked alongside fresh salmon on a sheet-pan, and eggs are hard-boiled to your liking on the side. Pile the warm roasted vegetables over fresh salad greens and you’ll have yourself a filling dinner-worthy salad.

Sheet-Pan Clambake

Don’t worry about breaking out a bunch of big pots to make a classic clambake for dinner — a few sheet-pans will do the trick. In this recipe, all of the classic ingredients — potatoes, smoky sausages and plenty of seafood — steam to perfection in a smoky buttered white wine mixture. Give everything a good squeeze of fresh lemon juice before serving, and make sure to put out some crusty bread to sop up all of the flavorful broth.

This one is for those of us in a time crunch. This quick version of a classic takeout dish uses a few shortcuts to get dinner on the table in about 30 minutes. Instead of battering and frying the shrimp, the crispy texture comes from the charred broccoli. But not to worry — all of the sweet and salty flavor is still present in the creamy honey-mayo sauce. Buy pre-cut broccoli florets and chopped walnuts to save prep time.

A fan favorite in the world of Chinese-American takeout, sesame chicken can easily be made on a sheet-pan. This mess-free version coats cubes of chicken thighs in a sticky sweet sauce made with fresh ginger, garlic, honey, soy sauce and sesame oil. Broccoli florets are added to the pan to mingle with the other ingredients. If you want a true takeout experience, serve some sticky rice on the side.

Despite its fussy reputation, making fish for dinner couldn’t be simpler. Meaty white fish like hake, cod or halibut holds up well in the oven, so the filets will remain flaky and tender. We like to serve the fish alongside colorful vegetables such as green beans and cherry tomatoes, but use whatever is in season. All this simple dish needs is a drizzle of sauce made with tangy lemon, mustard and fresh dill.

Sheet-Pan Veggie Pizza

No pizza stone? No problem! A sheet-pan is the perfect tool to make delicious pizza at home. Our homemade pizza dough is a bit more nutritious than the standard store-bought version, using whole wheat flour and yogurt to add protein and fiber. Keep this recipe vegetarian by piling the dough high with mozzarella cheese, marinara sauce and vegetables — this is a great way to use up leftover roasted vegetables, but you can roast or sauté any fresh vegetables you like (we’re partial to bell peppers, mushrooms and zucchini).

Transport yourself straight to the Mediterranean coast with this sheet-pan dinner full of fresh spring flavors. This dish has plenty of protein (shrimp), fiber (asparagus and tomatoes) and healthy fat (olive oil, Greek olives and feta cheese). Whether you’re following the Mediterranean diet or just looking for a flavorful dinner, this is a quick and easy option.

Sheet-Pan Gnocchi

Shelf-stable or frozen gnocchi are a great ingredient to have on hand for whipping up dinner fast. Store-bought basil pesto adds flavor to the potato dumplings as well as the medley of roasted vegetables on the sheet tray. As the gnocchi bakes, the edges begin to crisp up while the insides remain soft and fluffy. Give everything on the sheet-pan a good toss before drizzling some balsamic glaze over the top to finish.

Sometimes all you need for a light dinner is a big tray of your favorite roasted vegetables. Slices of eggplant and stalks of broccolini cook down until tender before they’re finished under the broiler, while juicy cherry tomatoes burst in the oven. Serve these vegetables as they are, or pile them into bowls with cooked rice, pasta or thick slices of crusty bread.

With just five ingredients, this sheet-pan dinner is oh, so satisfying. The key to perfectly cooking pork chops is to add them to a preheated sheet-pan before going into the oven. The direct heat from the sheet-pan will give the chops some golden color, while the indirect heat from the oven will cook them thoroughly. Toss some broccoli, chickpeas and jarred pepperoncini onto the tray alongside the pork chops and you’ll have a hearty and satisfying meal on your hands in no time.

Sheet-Pan Omelets

Making omelets just got a whole lot easier! With this sheet-pan recipe, you can make omelets for a crowd, even if they each want a different flavor profile. Whisk and season the eggs, pour them into a sheet-pan and then add any toppings that you like — think: a medley of cooked vegetables, crispy bacon and cheddar cheese.

This simple and cozy sheet-pan dinner utilizes three quick-cooking ingredients (chicken thighs, green beans and baby potatoes) for a 30-minute meal. The most effort you’ll put in is making the homemade honey mustard sauce to coat the chicken. Since dark meat is much harder to overcook than light meat, you don’t need to worry about the chicken drying out before the potatoes and green beans are done.

Sheet-Pan Shrimp Boil

Shrimp and smoked kielbasa are ideal for a quick-cooking sheet-pan dinner. The rest of the ingredients used in this recipe are synonymous with a shrimp boil — Old Bay seasoning permeates the shrimp, sausage, potatoes and corn coins as they roast in the oven. Thin slices of lemon are added to the sheet-pan too, which become sweet enough to eat while still adding brightness to the dish.

Sheet-Pan Shrimp Fajitas

Need to make fajitas for a crowd? Break out the sheet-pans. Peppers and onions are roasted with homemade taco seasoning made using pantry spices such as paprika, garlic powder, cumin and oregano. Pile everything into warmed tortillas and add all of your favorite toppings.

This 30-minute tray bake is perfect for chilly or rainy nights. When butternut squash is in season, roast it with fennel wedges, red onions and woodsy rosemary leaves to bring out its sweet, earthy flavor. Adding a package of store-bought gnocchi helps turn the roasted vegetables into a full meal.

The best thing about making sheet-pan pizza is how versatile the recipe can be. Ricotta and Parmesan cheeses create the base for thin slices of delicata squash, red onion and crumbled Italian sausage. The subtle sweetness in the sausage and squash compliment each other nicely. Be sure to amp up the autumnal flavor by adding a handful of fresh sage leaves to the top.

Sheet-Pan Chicken Fajitas

Since this fajita recipe is so easy, take an extra step and make a homemade fajita spice mix instead of using store-bought. The blend is both spicy and smoky, and it adds a whole lot of flavor to the peppers, onions and chicken strips. While the meat and vegetables cook, you’re free to focus on gathering your garnishes — we love to fill the tortillas with guacamole, salsa and dollops of sour cream.

There’s only one thing not to like about latkes — the mess they leave behind. If you want to avoid the oil splattering that comes along with frying up potato pancakes, try this oven-baked version instead. Sweet potatoes stand in for traditional russets — since sweet potatoes have less starch than white potatoes, matzo meal is added to the mixture to help bind the latkes together.

Breakfast for dinner, anyone? Skip the flip and spread this simple pancake batter into a rimmed sheet-pan before topping it with whatever your heart desires. Make it all one flavor or add toppings in portions — use fresh fruit like blueberries and bananas or semisweet chocolate chips.

Pineapple chicken is a classic takeout dish for a reason — it’s sweet, sticky and can be as spicy as you like. Cubed chicken breasts, bell peppers, red onions and fresh pineapple are all baked together on a sheet-pan and coated in a smooth honey-teriyaki glaze (if you like things spicy, add a spoonful of Sriracha to the glaze). Serve the chicken, vegetables and any sauce that has accumulated on the sheet-pan over bowls of rice.

Sheet Pan Aloo Gobi

This naturally vegan Indian dish is traditionally made by sautéing potatoes and cauliflower with lots of spices, including cumin and curry leaves. This sheet-pan version roasts the vegetables with fresh ginger, turmeric, chili powder and asafetida (a savory, umami spice similar in flavor to MSG). Finish fresh with a squeeze of lime juice and as much fresh cilantro as you can handle.

Shakshuka is a North African dish consisting of eggs cooked in a mixture of stewed peppers and onions. Most recipes call for a shallow skillet, but a sheet-pan works just as well. While sweet potatoes roast in the oven, blend up a quick harissa tomato sauce and add it to the sheet-pan. Crack a few eggs into the sauce and bake just until the whites are set. Be sure to serve some sliced bread alongside for scooping up the tomato sauce and eggs.

This baked salmon is the start of a fantastically flavorful dinner. We rub a whole side of salmon with an herby mayo and mustard mixture before baking. Bring the fish back to life with a squeeze of lemon juice and serve it alongside a leafy green salad or simple vegetable side dish.

This sheet-pan potato hash — made with roasted root vegetables, mushrooms and breakfast sausage — can easily be served for breakfast or dinner. Put out your favorite hot sauce so everyone can douse their eggs in as much heat as they like.

Perfect Roast Vegetables

All you need is a sheet-pan to make a tray of perfect roasted vegetables. From root vegetables such as potatoes and carrots to cruciferous greens such as broccoli and Brussels sprouts, you can roast just about any vegetable you’re craving. By keeping the seasoning simple (just kosher salt and black pepper,) the true flavor of the vegetables is able to shine through. You can roast more than one vegetable on the same sheet-pan as long as they have similar structures — for instance, potatoes and beets will roast at roughly the same rate.

Sheet-Pan Pizza Del Boscaiolo

Sliding a pizza into the oven can be tricky, even for the most professional chef. Building a pizza directly on a sheet-pan is the easiest way to do it. This pizza is loaded up with fontina and Parmesan cheeses, chanterelle mushrooms and truffles. It’s the epitome of luxury.

Spices traditionally found in masala dishes are incorporated into all of the components of these spiced veggie bowls. Cayenne adds spice to roasted sweet potatoes while cumin and turmeric coat the nooks and crannies of broccoli florets and canned chickpeas. Whisk together a colorful turmeric tahini sauce and serve the roasted vegetables and legumes in bowls over rice.

Everything from the vegetables to the coconut rice bakes together on one sheet-pan in this recipe. As the mixture bakes, the rice becomes tender, the onions caramelize and the raisins plump up. Be sure to stock up your spice drawer for this recipe — it uses all kinds of herbs and spices, such as curry powder, paprika, bay leaves and cinnamon sticks.

Sheet Pan Flounder with Roasted Tomatoes and Black Olives

As the tomatoes burst in the oven, they melt into a puttanesca-esque sauce right on the sheet-pan. Thin fish filets like flounder or tilapia cook quickly when nestled into the tomato sauce. Black olives add a briny finish and fresh herbs are just the thing to bring the hearty sauce back to life.

Blueberry Swirl Sheet-Pan Protein Pancakes

No one is going to turn down a stack of blueberry pancakes, but this sheet-pan recipe simplified the process. Each slab of fluffy pancake has a unique blueberry design swirled into the batter. Top them like you would any short stack — with a few pats of butter, a drizzle of maple syrup or a dusting of powdered sugar.

Sheet-pan meals are a godsend when you’re only cooking for one to two people. A handful of your favorite vegetables (we use carrots, red onion and shiitake mushrooms here) and a serving of salmon can roast together on one tray, and you’ll have a hearty dinner ready in a matter of minutes. We like to finish this dish by drizzling everything with honey mustard and sprinkling some fresh shiso leaves over the top, which add an herbaceous and slightly citrusy flavor.

Party sliders are a must-have for game day and beyond. And guests won’t have to choose just one flavor. In this recipe, we turn one 12-pack of potato buns into three types of sliders — barbecue-cheddar, tomato-mozzarella and a take on Chick-Fil-A’s fried chicken sandwiches (complete with a copycat sauce!).

This sheet-pan meal says “winter is coming!” Juicy red grapes burst and red onion wedges caramelize in the oven. Meanwhile, everything absorbs the flavorsome juices from roasted chili-rubbed chicken legs. What isn’t absorbed can be sopped up with hearty bread.

You’ll see tteok kkochi (skewers of alternating sausages and rice cakes) in gas stations across Korea, much like a 7-11 hot dog in the states. Here’s a way to make them at home. By roasting these skewers on a sheet-pan, the fat from the sausages helps crisp up the outsides of the rice cakes. Gochujang, ketchup, strawberry jam, maple syrup and fresh garlic are combined to create a sweet and spicy glaze that gets brushed over the skewers.

Chicken scarpariello is traditionally made by slowly braising chicken, sausages and vegetables in a hearty tomato sauce. This Italian-American dish can be streamlined by cooking everything on a sheet-pan. Sweet Italian sausage and chicken thighs cook quickly, while their juices create a silky pan sauce. Pickled cherry peppers and fresh herbs help cut through the meat’s fattiness.

It’s all about timing with this hearty and satisfying recipe. Keeping the salmon in one larger piece instead of breaking it down into portioned filets allows the sweet potatoes and broccoli to cook through in the same amount of time as the fish. Drizzle each dinner plate with any of the honey-mustard glaze that drips onto the pan.

Turn a package of frozen pierogi into a full dinner by pairing it with other classic Polish ingredients such as kielbasa sausage, cabbage and caraway. Don’t skip out on the quick sour cream-dill sauce — dollop it over the pierogi, sausage and caramelized cabbage wedges just before serving.

Sheet-Pan Quesadillas

Did you know you can get a perfectly crisp texture and golden brown color on quesadillas without having to flip them on the stovetop? It’s true. Fill soft tortillas with melty cheese, chicken and all of your favorite vegetables, brush them with some oil and toast them on a baking sheet in the oven. The exteriors will crisp up just as the cheese melts, and you can top them with all the fixings such as guacamole, sour cream or salsa.

Cumin-Roasted Pork Chops and Brussels Sprouts

If you ask us, there’s no better way to cook Brussels sprouts than by roasting them on a sheet-pan in a blazing hot oven. Bonus points if the sprouts are fried with sage leaves to add a wonderful aroma. Thick and meaty bone-in pork chops are coated in a sweet and savory mixture of brown sugar, garlic and fragrant toasted cumin seeds.

Just because it’s called meatloaf doesn’t necessarily mean we have to make it in a loaf pan. This moist turkey loaf is molded into a dome, brushed with a classic ketchup and Worcestershire glaze and baked as usual. Salty, cheesy and herby smashed potatoes roast around the meatloaf, becoming perfectly crispy for soaking up the meatloaf’s juices.

It may be a salad, but panzanella is hearty enough for dinner. The salad is already substantial with its variety of vegetables and bread cubes, but adding some extra protein to the dish is never a bad idea. Here, chicken thighs, vegetables and bread cubes are all roasted on the same sheet-pan for easy cleanup. Keep the dressing simple so the flavor of the seasonal ingredients can really shine through.

Sheet-Pan Salad

Warm salads always tend to make dinner feel a little more substantial. By pairing roasted seasonal vegetables like delicata and butternut squash, cauliflower and shallots with chickpeas, everyone will feel nourished after dinner. We can’t have a salad without some sort of salad green — scatter a few handfuls of baby arugula over the warm vegetables and legumes just before serving.

Ratatouille Sheet Pan Chicken

You don’t need to hide a cute little French rat under your cap to make this traditional French dish — all you need are a couple sheet pans! Eggplant and onions roast away on one pan, while zucchini, peppers and tomatoes melt down on another. All of the vegetables will absorb the pan drippings from the chicken legs, which are coated in a flavorful garlic-herb compound butter before they hit the oven.

Sheet-Pan Chicken with Jammy Tomatoes and Pancetta

This speedy sheet-pan dinner requires minimal prep work and spends most of its time in the oven. Ripe cherry tomatoes and whole garlic cloves roast alongside spice-rubbed chicken thighs. As everything bakes, the tomatoes and garlic become sticky and sweet, which is great for balancing out the fattiness of the pancetta.

Sherry vinegar soaks into the skin of chicken breasts and thighs, imparting a deliciously intense flavor in this dish. As the cherry tomatoes burst in the oven, they infuse with the garlic and fresh herbs, developing a sweet, concentrated flavor. The sweetness from the tomatoes and the brininess from the green olives helps cut through the smokiness of the paprika that’s sprinkled over the chicken pieces.

Succulent chicken pieces roast on a sheet-pan with plenty of garlic, lemon and a few bulbs of super-seasonal ramps. The ramp leaves, which are used two ways, have an undeniably pungent garlic flavor. They add even more flavor in the form of an apple cider-mustard vinaigrette that’s drizzled over everything before serving.

Sunny Citrus Sheet-Pan Pancakes

Nothing can brighten your day quite like starting it off with a sunny stack of citrus pancakes. This pancake is so simple — a citrus-infused batter bakes in a thin layer in a sheet-pan. The topping combines classic maple syrup with vibrant segments of orange-hued citrus — use the season’s best, such as grapefruit, navel and blood oranges.

Fried rice is one of the quickest dinners to put together, but did you know you can make it even easier on yourself by cooking it on a sheet-pan? Our trick to the best fried rice, whether it’s done on a sheet-pan, in a wok or in a skillet, is to use leftover rice — day-old rice is dryer than fresh, so it’ll have a nicer texture when “fried.” Crack the eggs right on top of the rice and bake them in the oven.

Just one sheet-pan and you can make cheesy marinara-coated chicken breasts, a side of broccoli and a few slices of buttery toasted garlic bread. To make this chicken Parm, dredge the breasts in egg wash and panko breadcrumbs like usual, then bake them in the oven. Whole cloves of garlic are roasted alongside the chicken and broccoli, then smashed into a butter and rubbed over the garlic toasts.

Giada's Sheet-Pan Eggplant Parmesan

Frying can create quite a mess, so it’s nice when a recipe provides all of the same flavor without having to break out the vat of oil. This Italian-American classic can be breaded and baked on a sheet-pan — it’ll absorb all of the flavors of the tomato sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Bonus: since the eggplant is baked instead of fried, it’s a little more nutritious and just as delicious.

Sheet-Pan Honey Jerk Salmon

This sheet-pan salmon has every flavor in the book — it’s a little bit sweet, salty, spicy and citrusy. The secret sauce, if you will, is the marinade — fresh garlic, orange juice, habanero chiles and traditional jerk spices such as allspice and cumin are blended into a paste that’s smeared over the salmon filets. The buttery fish benefits from both the sugar and spice, and it all comes together in under 30 minutes.

Everything you love about Buffalo chicken wings can be found in this sheet-pan pizza. It’s a dinner that everyone will love, and it’s super simple to make. Top store-bought pizza dough with mozzarella, blue cheese and shredded Buffalo chicken. While the pizza bakes, make a quick “ranch” dressing to coat the crunchy celery salad. Sprinkle the salad over the top of the pizza once it comes out of the oven, or serve it on the side.

This no-fuss salmon dinner is healthy and nutritious, and it’s not lacking in flavor either. The star of the show is the homemade teriyaki sauce. It’s made with five ingredients that you most likely have on hand already — all you have to do is whisk everything together to create the teriyaki flavor we all know and love.

Chicken cacciatore is usually made by stewing chicken in a tomato and red wine sauce. It’s a hearty chicken dinner that’s usually served in the colder winter months, but this sheet-pan variation is a little bit lighter, making it perfect for spring or summer. There’s very little prep involved — just throw everything onto the sheet-pan and let it work its magic in the oven.

A bag of frozen vegetables can be the start of something great, especially if you need to get dinner made in a hurry. Frozen peas and leeks steam with floral vermouth, which brings out their natural sweetness. Meanwhile, meaty chicken thighs roast on top of the vegetables, releasing some of their drippings onto the peas and leeks. Be sure to save some of the dill so you can finish each plate with something fresh.

This satisfying sheet-pan meal has a little bit of everything — protein from the sausages and beans, healthy fats from olive oil and lots of fresh vegetables. Leafy green kale wilts just enough to maintain some crunch and the cherry tomatoes burst and become sweet and juicy.

Sheet-pan desserts

This pumpkin sheet cake is a game-changer on Thanksgiving, but it’s a delicious dessert any time of the year. The moist, lightly spiced cake can be made by hand (no fancy equipment needed). Top it all off with a thick layer of homemade marshmallow fluff and give it a quick toast for campfire vibes.

Sheet-Pan Tiramisu

When you need a quick pick-me-up, look no further than this sheet-pan tiramisu. Layer rum and espresso-soaked ladyfingers with a sweetened mascarpone mixture and let the layers soften in the fridge for a few hours. This is one of those desserts that gets better with age — it can and should be made ahead, so it’s ideal for entertaining.

Peppermint Texas Sheet Cake

Texas sheet cake is a Southern staple, making an appearance at birthdays, holidays and everything in between. When the large-format chocolate cake is sprinkled with crushed peppermint candies, it turns into an easy and festive treat. It’s rich and decadent, and makes enough to serve a crowd.

Sheet-Pan Blueberry Crisp

The sheet-pan is our new favorite tool for making fruit crisps. There’s plenty of room for the fruit (blueberries in this case) to meld with the sugar and become tender and juicy. The surface area also means that you’ll get plenty of the buttery crumb topping in each bite.

Can’t decide what kind of pie to make during the holidays? Great news — you can have your pie(s) and eat them too! Divide pumpkin, sweet potato and pecan pie fillings on a sheet-pan lined with pie dough. The portions will remain separate as they bake, so everyone can get a taste of all of their favorites without much effort on your end.